BELLEVUE, Wash., Dec. 07, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- 5G Americas, the industry trade association and voice of 5G and LTE for the Americas, today announced that global LTE connections reached the milestone of 2.5 billion at the end of the third quarter of 2017. There was an increase of 838 million new LTE subscriptions in one year ending September 2017 according to data from Ovum. Global market share for LTE achieved 32 percent at the end of the third quarter of 2017, an increase of almost 10 percentage points in one year. The North America region continued as a global leader with LTE market share of 73 percent, higher than any other world region. Latin America exhibited continued growth with market share for LTE increasing to 26 percent.

“Although the global wireless industry is working on preparations for 5G in the future, currently operators are deploying more advanced LTE capabilities, and LTE subscriptions are continuing to grow at a fantastic rate,” stated Chris Pearson, President of 5G Americas.

New LTE network deployments continue as well as many network upgrades from LTE to LTE-Advanced. As of mid-November, there were 562 commercial LTE deployments worldwide, while 211 of those operators have already evolved to LTE-Advanced (TeleGeography).

3Q 2017 - North America

The North America region achieved 341 million LTE subscriptions by the end of September 2017 with some of the highest penetration rates, most extensive coverage and largest market share for LTE in the world. LTE achieved a penetration rate of 94 percent in the third quarter, with 341 million connections compared to the population of 362 million in North America. This penetration rate compares to the next two highest regions, Oceania, Eastern and Southeastern Asia, at 58 percent and Western Europe at 57 percent penetration. In North America, LTE penetration is expected to pass 100 percent in 2018.

In addition to having a significantly higher penetration rate, the U.S. and Canada also have the highest market share for LTE in comparison to all mobile wireless technologies with 73 percent versus Oceania, Eastern and Southeastern Asia at 52 percent and 42 percent in Western Europe. Market share represents the percentage of mobile wireless connections that are LTE technology versus all other mobile technologies.

341 million LTE connections for net gain of 52 million new LTE customers from 3Q 2016 to 3Q 2017

LTE is forecast to reach 456 million connections at the end of 2021 (including M2M)

LTE forecast to reach nearly 200 million connections at the end of 2017 (forecast includes M2M)

By the end of 2021, LTE is forecast to reach 458 million connections (forecast includes M2M) and a 59 percent share of market

Mr. Otero further noted that, “Actions by Latin American governments such as, granting new spectrum to mobile operators and approval of secondary spectrum market transactions, as well as spectrum re-farming by operators, have contributed to LTE’s healthy growth. With more than 25 percent of all regional subscribers using LTE, we are confident that the next step in network evolution will be an increase in the number of operators launching Carrier Aggregation to increase the speeds offered via their LTE networks.”

As of mid-November, there were 108 commercial LTE networks across the Latin America and the Caribbean region of which 20 are LTE-Advanced deployments with Carrier Aggregation (TeleGeography).

3Q 2017 - Global

Worldwide, LTE is forecast to continue its momentum, growing to 3 billion in 2018 and achieving 4.9 billion connections in 2022.

2.5 billion LTE connections out of a total of 7.8 billion total cellular connections worldwide

Ovum’s global forecast indicates LTE surpassing all other technologies in 2018 to become the most popular technology with a total 3.16 billion LTE connections, 41.6 percent penetration and 38 percent market share. LTE connections will be nearly 5 billion with 62 percent penetration by December 2022, according to the forecast.

About 5G Americas: The Voice of 5G and LTE for the Americas5G Americas is an industry trade organization composed of leading telecommunications service providers and manufacturers. The organization's mission is to advocate for and foster the advancement and full capabilities of LTE wireless technology and its evolution beyond to 5G, throughout the ecosystem's networks, services, applications and wirelessly connected devices in the Americas. 5G Americas is invested in developing a connected wireless community while leading 5G development for all the Americas. 5G Americas is headquartered in Bellevue, Washington. More information is available at www.5gamericas.org.